100 Things I'm Thankful For

Some serious, some fun, the first 90 in no particular order. The last 10 ranked in order of things I’m most thankful for. 

100. JoAnn Carner. The 84-year-old. 43-time LPGA winner, heater burning, scotch drinking, legend beat her age by four strokes in the opening round of the U.S. Senior Open. 

99. Sunny Kim. The mini-tour legend, who has hundreds of wins across Florida didn’t play in 2023 and it made me realize how thankful I am for his career. 

98. The Alps Tour. It has always been one of my favorite mini-tours. It’s very obscure, plays in very obscure places, but it also helped jumpstart the comeback of Matteo Mannasaro. 

97. Opposite field events. They almost always result in great stories or become the first win for rising stars. This year was no exception when Askshay Bhatia won the Barracuda. 

96. Russell Knox. When people ask about players' struggles at Q-school I always used Knox as an example. He never got through Q-school, failed multiple times, some of those weren’t close. Then Monday Q’d into a Web.com (KFT) event and finished 2nd. 

95. Sean Martin. The PGA Tour writer gave me my first break. 

94. Justin Ray. The man is a statistical legend. 

93. Ryan Ballengee for introducing me to Pro Darts.

92. The Haters. As my account has grown, so have the haters. The truth is they used to really bother me. If there were 100 nice comments and one bad one, I would let the negative one bother me. Now they either make me laugh or motivate me. (I also wear out the mute button)

91. The first round of the year. My dad and I always used to play on opening day (April usually), no matter the weather. Steph and I continued it in 2023. 

90. Champions Tour Mondays. Though I wish the Champions Tour was more of an open shop, the field is always filled with tons of former PGA Tour winners. 

89. Epson Tour purses. It wasn’t long ago that the purses were $100,000. Next year there will be an event with a $400,000 purse. 

88. The Scottish Open. It's one of the few Euro Tour events with a qualifier. I hope one day to see more. 

87. My Wednesday group at Rivers Edge. I joke often about the yips, but honestly it took away my enjoyment of playing the game. But this group has been really fun to play with and I’ve been enjoying it since moving back to my hometown. 

86. The Dakotas Tour. One of the best mini-tours for stories and one of the best as far as payouts. 

85. Steve Allan. The Aussie is an all-time grinder and an all-time nice guy. It was so awesome to see him get his Champions card at Q-school. I will not be surprised to see him pull a Steve Alker. 

84. Tom Whitney. Just one of the best dudes in golf. And an amazing family. 

83. The Cuda. Undisputed 5th Major that has given me some of the best golf memories of my life. 

82. Phil Mickelson. For giving a good friend the lesson of a lifetime. And more to come in ‘24

81. The Colorado Open. $100,000 winner’s checks for both the men and women’s winner. So cool. 

80. Benny. The guy lives in a camper (upgraded from a tent recently) and spends most of his money playing golf. 

79. Kyle Thompson. I had 700 followers and Kyle spent an hour on the phone discussing his career. It was a favor I’ll never forget. 

78. Sources. I have been lucky enough to develop relationships with people that give me some great stories. I appreciate ya. 

77. Tommy Kuhl. He called a penalty and DQ’d himself after setting a course record in a U.S. Open qualifier. Reminder that there are plenty more honest, good dudes in golf than bad. 

76. The Honda Monday. Once the SuperBowl of Monday Q’s it has taken a hit because of scheduling but it will always be one of my favorites. 

75. McCormick Ranch. Sadly it won’t be the site for the WM Monday Q this year as they move to a nice private course but it was a perfect Monday Q course. A factory where mats were used on the range and the course was very average. I’ll miss it. 

74. Golf Channel. I’m not sure what I did to get banned from there, but they used to have me on a lot and they are always great to credit me, which I appreciate very much. 

73. PGA Tour radio. Chantel McCabe, The Paulson’s, Jason Sobel, Michael Collins and John Maginnes have me on their shows often and I am very thankful. 

72. Matthew Laurance. The first radio show I was ever on was his in Lexington and he’s a wonderful human and became a great friend. 

71. Ryan Gerard. His run at the Honda last year after Monday Q’ing is what makes Monday’s great. 

70. The All-Pro Tour. The only US based mini-tour left that plays 4 day events. 

69. The Pro Golf Tour. A mini-tour based in Germany that had a meeting and decided to name their pro golf tour, THE Pro Golf Tour. 

68. Wheat Thins (reduced fat). I am eating them as I type this and they are my go to snack since I’ve lost weight. 

67. Brett Graf. Director of Rules for the South FL PGA and the first person to feed me info during a Monday Q playoff. It was 2018 and it really helped the account become a thing. 

66. Edward Loar. The four-time All-American has always been really great to me. And his trackers have become good friends. 

65. The Fried Egg. Andy’s pod was the first big one I was ever on and Brendan, Will, and the rest of the crew have been so supportive. 

64. Max Homa. His journey to multi-time PGA Tour winner is what my account is all about. And damn good on Twitter. 

63. TJ Vogel. His record of 8 (EIGHT!!) Monday Q’s in one year will never be broken. 

62. U.S. Open Qualifying. The greatest day in golf. 

61. Daniella Icobelli. The smooth-swinging, multi-time Epson Tour winner is a throwback. She swears (a lot) she smokes, and she says what the hell she wants, even if it pisses you off. And I love it. 

60. SpellCheck. Imagine how many misspelled words I’d have without it. 

59. The Safari Tour. Maybe the most obscure mini-tour in the world, played in Africa. I promise one day to make it to one of their events. 

58. Alexa Pano. When I caddied at an LPGA event for Christina Kim I was walking up to introduce myself and she said hello to me first and said she was a big fan of mine. 

57. Fletcher Babcock. For those that don’t remember he is the headphone wearing, tattooed, long black socks-wearing, shooting 66 club pro from the Northeast. I love him. 

56. Taylor Funk. I had a front row seat to his amazing finish at second stage of Q-school, where he chipped in from an impossible spot on 17 and made a birdie on the closing hole to squeak into final stage. It was fantastic to watch. 

55. The Barn Rat. Enough said. 

54. Faith Kilgore. I was caddying for Christina and the Monday Q had just finished up when I was walking past the clubhouse. I saw a young lady standing in Texas gear all alone crying. Her story was amazing. 

53. Ryan French. No, not me. There is a follower who has the same name, and kinda of looks like me. 

52. Intern Reid. He has been a great addition to Monday Q and is a stick. 

51. My Golf Simulator. It’s been so cool to have one. The other day I had some guys over and we had pizza and they had some drinks. 

50. Wellington. Our 13-year-old mostly Bassett Hound is grumpy and sleeps most of the day, but I love him. 

49. Ink’d. They have made my towels for me but Jay, the owner, has also sponsored Mark and is just an all-around good human who is always looking out for me. 

48. The Detroit Lions. The Lions, the Detroit Lions, are going to be in the NFL playoffs. 

47. Pillow fights. My kids love pillow fights, so we have them a couple of times a week. Their laughter during them gives me life. Part of the pillow fight is a game we call “electric fence” . They walk over me, but if any part of them touches me I smoke them with a pillow. I realize these will end soon, so I try to soak them up as much as possible. 

46. Mark missing at Q-school. I know he can make it but being on the bag for the bad times is part of the deal. I’ll obviously never be a player, but I try my best to give people a behind the scenes look at this side of pro golf. Being on the bag for disappointment like that helps me do that. 

45. Brett White. One of the best stories in golf and has been great to me. 

44. Nick Hardy. After he had missed five consecutive cuts and was in a deep slump I asked him to come on the pod, a lot of players would have declined. Instead he came on and was honest and insightful about what a slump feels like. A few weeks later he won the Zurich with Davis Riley. 

43. Tron Carter. Throughout my account I have reached out to Tron often for advice and he has always been willing to offer it. 

42. Red Rooster. The notes from Brad Fritsch make the great golf gloves even better. 

41. Shane Bacon. He needs a booth job on a major network. Maybe my favorite golf announcer. 

40. The City Open. I hadn’t played in the Alpena City Open for years, but have played the last two and despite my terrible play, I have really enjoyed it. 

39. Patrick Reed. I hate that I have to add him to the list, but there is no doubt that he is the ultimate Monday Q success story. His six successful Monday Q’s in 2012 jump started his career. 

38. Mark Godich. He has edited for some of the best sports journalists of our time. I’d assume editing mine is the hardest job of his life. 

37. Snow Golf. One day last year Benny and I went out on a frozen lake and hit balls at a shovel for hours. It was so fun. 

36. New Clubs. I have never had fitted clubs before I started this account. Now I have been lucky enough to have three different sets. I promise I don’t take it for granted. 

35. Steve Alker. There is an argument that he is the most successful Monday Qualifier ever. In 2020 he Monday Q’d into the Boeing Classic and finished T7 to earn a spot in the next field. He never looked back. The lifelong grinder, who only had 87 career PGA Tour starts, now has seven Champions Tour wins and has earned $7.3 Million. 

34. Brooke Henderson. People tend to forget that her first victory came as a 17-year-old…after Monday Qualifying. 

33. Speaking of LPGA Monday Q’s – this year in Portland, Chanettee Wannasaen became the first Monday Q to win since Henderson did it in 2015. Coming into the event she had missed eight of her last nine cuts and broken par in just two rounds. In Portland she shot 29-under and won by four. Mondays. 

32. Norman Xiong. His college coach compared him to Tiger Woods and after one year on the KFT Tour, he basically disappeared. But in 2022, he Monday Q’d into the Wichita KFT event and won. This year he earned his PGA Tour card via the KFT. 

31. Laetitia Beck. The only professional golfer from Israel earned her LPGA card via Q-school. 

30. West Florida Tour. A lot of news is made about mini-tours that rip people off. The fact is there are some really reputable ones that pay players and play good courses. West Florida is one of those. 

29. Andre Metzger. The Dakotas Tour legend has won a million times on that Tour and is one of the few players that makes a living on the mini-tour grind. 

28. Asian Tour. With the support of LIV it has become another viable option for players to play and make a decent living. They also now have a Q-school stage here in the States. 

27. Blaine Hale Jr. He went from the mini-tour grind to a PGA Tour member in 12 rounds. The former Oklahoma Sooner is the best example of why I love Q-school with PGA Tour cards available. 

26. Jon Rahm. Not for recent news, but for the insightful answer he gave me about Monday Qualifiers. 

25. Andy Olgetree. One of the better golf stories of the year. He went from injured and playing poorly to winning the Asian Tour Order of Merit. 

24. Mark Baldwin Camerwork. Mark went out for the final day of Champions Q-school and the first video he took was the dunked wedge from Michael Wright that helped secure his card. Amazingly good luck/work. 

23. The Waste Management Monday. Eight Pre-Q’s, 120 players in the Monday, Tuesday morning finish. It is the ultimate Monday Q and I love everything about it. 

22. The Hooters Tour. Once in a while I look through old stats from that Tour and remember how great it was. They had Monday Q’s for goodness sake!

21. The Americas Tour. Although a LONG way to go, the combining of Latin and Canada is a step in the right direction for the PGA Tour’s Double-A Tour. 

20. Spencer Levin. The GOAT Monday Q’d and won this year. Not only that but has kicked both smoking and drinking. Great to see him back playing full-time. 

19. Our little home. We have deer, ducks, and geese in our backyard. It's so peaceful to get up in the morning and watch them. 

18. Jack getting into golf. We try not to push our kids into things, so it was great that Jack showed interest in the game. Unfortunately, he will likely be doomed with my genes of turning a 76 into a 82. 

17. Aaron and Tyler. They are both some behind the scenes people that are vital to making Monday Q run so I can concentrate for the most part on stories. 

16. Kevin Kisner. I look forward to hearing him in the booth. What I would give to have a Pay-Per-View version of his commentary. But I seriously think he could be really good. 

15. LIV Monday Q’s. I keep hearing rumblings that they may happen, so here’s hoping. 

14. Min Woo Lee. Dude has the potential to be a HUGE star. Talented, bombs it, and funny. 

13. Berry Henson. The guy is wild. Drives uber, does insane workouts, does crazy stuff like fast for 72 hours, eats raw liver. 

12.. Dunning Golf. They have been a sponsor since almost day one and continue to be. I couldn’t have done it without them. Awesome company and awesome clothes. Shameless plug to use Code MondayQ20 at checkout. 

11. PGA Tour Q-school. It wasn’t perfect and I hope one day that there are more cards available, but the drama was back for Q-school and it was wonderful. 

The Top 10....

10. Christina Kim. I have caddied now on the LPGA, KFT, and PGA Tours. The two loops with Christina were so much fun. I love her. 

9. Hayden Springer. He and his wife Emma are amazing people. Here is hoping that Hayden wins early in the season and gets to the Masters. 

8. Chris Gallagher. Chris is the idea (and the money) behind our Drive Fore the Future Foundation that helps high school golf teams and kids in need. It is by far the most rewarding part of what I have done with this account and it wouldn’t be possible without Chris. 

7. Michael Bamberger. Meeting Michael at Fire Pit has been one of the greatest things that has happened to me both professionally and personally. I shared my story with him for The Ball In The Air. He has been an amazing mentor and become a great friend. 

6.  Mark Baldwin. A great friend and now a business partner, he has given me the best experiences of my golfing life.

T6. All of you. I have some amazing followers. None of this is possible without all of you, so thank you for making this possible and continuing to support what Mark and I are doing. 

5. My Dad. For introducing me to the game, for our caddie trips that were so vital to my life, for this account, and for being a wonderful father. I miss ya Pops. 

4. My Mom. She is the reason we have decided to stay in Alpena for now. She is an amazing grandmother, mother, mother-in-law, and I can’t thank her enough for all she has done for me in my life. I love you mom. 

3. My Kids. Jack and Annie are so different but both are great kids. I love you both. 

2. My Wife. She is the only reason this account exists and she has changed my life. I love her more every day. 

1. Future Ryder Cup Captain….Corey Conners.